Useful General Ferry Portsmouth Bilbao Information

You will find lots of Ferry Portsmouth Bilbao information and resources here at ferryireland. Ferries come in all shapes and sizes, from small cable ferries all the way up to almost cruise boat size proportions. Ferry crossings from the mainland UK to Europe are as popular as ever due to the increasing demand for European travel.

The Channel Tunnel has only served to make the ferry boat operators more competitive and real fare bargains are now regularly offered.

P&O Ferries was formed after the Stena Line sold its 40% share
in P&O Stena Line in 2002. P&O Portsmouth and P&O North Sea Ferries merged into the P&O Ferries operation and managed from
Dover. Prior to the P&O Stena joint venture, operations from Dover, Felixstowe, Portsmouth and Cairnryan were all conducted
under the P&O European Ferries name. P&O European Ferries was the name given to the operations of Townsend Thoresen after the
P&O group purchased them in 1987. Townsend Thoresen was formed in 1968 after Townsend Brothers Ferries combined forces with
Thoresen Car Ferries.

With departures every three days, for much of the year, we offer the most convenient cruise style crossings to Spain.

Bilbao is an ideal starting point for travelling on to Spain, Southern France and Portugal as it cuts out the long drive through France. Thanks to our civilised departure and arrival times, you're certain to be in the holiday mood. Excellent motorway connections from Bilbao mean that you can be in Madrid in around three hours, alternatively the laid back villages of the North are a perfect escape for those looking for a real taste of Spain. Bilbao offers arguably Europe's best surfing, and the ski resorts of the Pyrenees are well within reach.

If you want a low-key break, try travelling during the off peak season, a great time to explore all of Spain as you'll find fewer crowds and some great deals on accommodation.

Portsmouth is the historical home of the Royal Navy. Located centrally on the South Coast, it has excellent links to the motorway network, & offers both passenger & freight services to a number of continental destination ports.

The city of Bilbao, the biggest port in Spain and the 6th largest city, is situated in the heart of the Basque Country and is a good place to see the regions attractions. The ferry port of Bilbao is situated in the centre of the European Atlantic coast, on the eastern side of the Bay of Biscay. This advantaged geographic location enables Port of Bilbao to link with the main international ports, especially links with both the American continent and the north of Europe. After 700 years of acting as a port, nowadays over 200 maritime services link Bilbao with 500 ports worldwide. The Port of Bilbao meets the highest operational capacity requirements. Last year, Port of Bilbao handled over 110,000 passengers.
Taking the ferry from the port of Portsmouth to Bilbao enables you not to have to drive the long distance travel through France. As a major city in Northern Spain, Bilbao is a great place should you be going on an onward journey into Spain.

P&O Ferries was formed after the Stena Line sold its 40% share in P&O Stena Line in 2002. P&O Portsmouth and P&O North Sea Ferries merged into the P&O Ferries operation and managed from Dover. Prior to the P&O Stena joint venture, operations from Dover, Felixstowe, Portsmouth and Cairnryan were all conducted under the P&O European Ferries name. P&O European Ferries was the name given to the operations of Townsend Thoresen after the P&O group purchased them in 1987. Townsend Thoresen was formed in 1968 after Townsend Brothers Ferries combined forces with Thoresen Car Ferries.

Sea ferries dock at specialised facilities designed to position the boat for loading and unloading. These areas are called the ferry slip. If the ferry is carrying vehicles or railroad cars an adjustable ramp called an apron may form part of the ship and is used for loading and unloading.

Brittany Ferries is a French ferry company that operates between France, Spain, the UK and Ireland. The company was founded by Alexis Gouvernnec in January 1973. The first operations were between Roscoff in Brittany and Plymouth in the South West of England. The company was originally called BAI (Bretagne-Angleterre-Irelande).

Hydrofoils have a high cruising speed and have largely taken over on some routes across the English Channel and replaced the aging hovercraft fleet.

At Dover all ferries, apart from Hoverspeed services, arrive and depart from the Ferry Terminal at the Eastern Docks. Hoverspeed's fast SeaCat ferry service operates from the Hoverport at the Western Docks. P and O ferries have up to 35 return crossings per day from Dover to Calais, with a crossing time of around 75 minutes. Sea France have up to 20 return crossings per day with a crossing time of around 70 minutes. Hoverspeed have up to 15 crossings per day with a crossing time of just 60 minutes. Services are available 364 days a year.

Stena Line was founded by Sten Allan Olsson when he acquired Skagenlinjen in 1962 and is one of the world's largest ferry operators. Stena Line has ferry services around the UK and Scandinavia. In 1990 Stena Line doubled it's size with the acquisition of Sealink British Ferries. After a number of name changes the company is now known locally as Stena Line (UK) and operate all of Stena’s ferry services between the UK and Northern Ireland.

The cross-Channel ferry route was established in 1841. This was to ensure that there was a link between the British and the continental rail networks.

Ferries that carry cars across a large waterway are sometimes referred to as "RORO" ferries (roll-on and roll-off) for the ease by which vehicles can board them and then leave. Roll on roll off ferries are usually quite large, conventional ferries named for the ease by which vehicles can board and leave.

Cable ferries operate over short distances across a number of the UK's inland waterways. Some cable ferries actually use the power of the rivers current to move the ferry forward. Most cable ferries though are operator controlled. Originally rope or steel chains were used to connect the ferries from ones side of the riverbank to the other. These have now been replaced by much stronger and more durable steel wire.

SeaFrance was launched on 1 January 1996 following the end of an agreement between Sealink and SNAT. That same year, SeaFrance Ltd. was established and was responsible for the sales and marketing of the new service in the UK as well as port operations in Dover. SeaFrance has since extended its sales operations throughout Europe with representatives in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy.

Waterjet powered Catamarans that can carry over 350 cars and more than 1000 foot passengers are also used in the English Channel and Irish Sea crossings. Stena Line own and operate one of the largest Catamarans in the world.

In designing ferries the route length, the number of likely passengers or vehicle capacity required, speed requirements and the water conditions the craft must deal with are all taken into consideration.

Cities that are surrounded by waterways such as Venice use ferries extensively as part of their public transport system. In such cases ferries are employed to do the work of bridges and tunnels as their relative capital cost is much lower. These foot passenger only ferries are sometimes called waterbuses or even water taxis.

Ferries are ideal for transporting passengers and vehicles over medium to long distances such as the type that run across the English Channel between the U.K. and Europe. The English Channel is one of the busiest ferry crossing areas in the world. The Channel Tunnel has taken some of the crossing business away from the ferries, but they are still very much in use due to the shear volume of traffic crossing between the U.K. and Europe.

DFDS is a Danish shipping company that was formed in 1866 as a merger of various minor shipping companies. The company was led by the industrialist Carl Frederik Tietgen. DFDS is the largest and oldest Danish shipping company. Passenger ferry activities are operated by DFDS Seaways.